Editors' Column

From the ACS National Meeting

Laboratory Waste Management As one of its several activities, the

ACS Task Force on RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) spon­sored a symposium at the ACS Na­tional Meeting in Washington, D.C., entitled "Laboratory Waste Manage­ment—Today and Tomorrow." At the symposium, experts presented infor­mation on management and technical considerations for effective laboratory waste management, problems and sug­gestions in cost-effective waste man­agement, and on- and off-site treat­ment/disposal methods.

The first speaker was Stanley Pine of California State University, chair­man of the RCRA Task Force. Pine described the task force's activities to date, which have included compiling a classification scheme for handling lab­oratory chemical waste; developing procedures for transporting wastes; publishing a pamphlet entitled "RCRA and Laboratories"; studying methods of hazardous chemical stor­age; and providing commentary on various proposed federal regulations.

Robert Alberty of the Massachu­setts Institute of Technology dis­cussed the book, "Prudent Practices for Disposal of Chemicals from Labo­ratories," recently published under the aegis of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). According to Alberty, chairman of the NAS Committee on Hazardous Substances in the Labora­tory, the book is intended to be useful to people working in laboratories, especially small laboratories, and deals with possible future directions that would simplify the handling and disposal of laboratory chemicals with­out posing a threat to human health or the environment.

The presentation by Maxine LaPierre of Tulane Medical School fo­cused on the hazardous waste program at Tulane University. LaPierre's talk

emphasized the problems encountered in establishing such a program, in­cluding funding, identifying the types and amounts of hazardous wastes, old chemicals, and widespread campus lo­cations. Peter Reinhardt described the program established at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, which em­phasizes reducing the amount of waste generated. A recycling program for unwanted chemicals has been very successful, saving the university ap­proximately $20,000 per year in pur­chasing costs.

Other talks dealt with off-site treat­ment of laboratory wastes, contractor considerations in off-site disposal, off-site disposal from the disposer's per­spective, on-site treatment of wastes, and procedures for laboratory destruc­tion of hazardous wastes.

Further information on RCRA and laboratory waste management is avail­able in the two publications men­tioned previously. "RCRA and Labo­ratories" is available from the Depart­ment of Public Affairs, ACS, 1155 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. Single copies of the pamphlet are free; multiple copies are $1 each. The NAS publication "Prudent Prac­tices for Disposal of Chemicals from Laboratories" can be ordered from National Academy Press, 2101 Consti­tution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418. The price is $16.50.

Marcia S. Vogel

New Trends at HP In conjunction with the ACS meet­

ing, Hewlett-Packard (HP) held a rather nontraditional press confer­ence. Editors of various journals and magazines were brought to the HP Di­vision in Avondale, Pa., for the unveil­ing of a new product. HP felt that the significance of this product, which was the result of a new corporate philoso­phy regarding manufacturing process

design, could only be fully appreciated through direct observation of the manufacturing process itself.

During a morning of presentations on different aspects of this new philos­ophy, Hal Edmondson, corporate vice-president of manufacturing, suggested that it is time for the analytical instru­ment industry to take a look at what has happened to the U.S. steel and au­tomobile industries as a result of Jap­anese technological advancements coupled with competitive pricing and improved manufacturing design. He believes that the technological gap be­tween the U.S. and Japan is rapidly narrowing and that U.S. instrument manufacturers must take immediate action to maintain their competitive edge. He stated that at HP, this phi­losophy has led to the development of a new design of the manufacturing process itself, which has resulted in cost reduction while improving quality and serviceability. This process design emphasizes quality control at every step of production thereby reducing the number of parts, the defect rate, space and labor, rework and scrap, and inventory. The first result of this process is a gas chromatograph that is being offered at a price roughly 25% lower than comparable models with an optional service contract guaranteeing more than 99% up-time (see N E W P R O D U C T S , p. 1344 A).

A tour of the plant provided an overview of established manufacturing procedures as well as a demonstration of the new streamlined manufacturing process. The reason for holding the press conference at the plant site be­came apparent: A verbal description would not have shown the contrast be­tween the old and new procedures as effectively. HP expects process design to benefit all its future instruments and also to set a new trend in the ana­lytical instrument market.

Rani Anne George

1294 A · ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 55, NO. 13, NOVEMBER 1983